


Magneto

by TheSovereigntyofReality



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: And his kids joined a Neo-Nazi organisation, Canon Divergence - Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Magneto is a Holocaust Survivor, Not Steve-Friendly, aou au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-16 04:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11246709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSovereigntyofReality/pseuds/TheSovereigntyofReality
Summary: Wanda and Pietro joined HYDRA to kill the man they blamed for their parents' deaths.They had no idea their real father was still alive.And he's not going to be happy.





	1. Matter of Question

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine**

‘Interesting album, this.’

Wanda and Pietro froze as they came into the apartment where they lived when not working. There was a woman in their home. She was American, from her accent, with long brown hair. She had their old family album – one of the few keepsakes from their parents – open in her lap. Wanda stirred her magic at the ready.

Pietro super-sped over and snatched it out of her hands. ‘Give that back!’

‘Sure.’ She rolled onto her feet. She casually strolled away from them. ‘I was just thinking, though…don’t you think it odd your parents kept no pictures of you from before you were toddlers?’

Her thoughts screamed of something else though – knowing a perfectly legitimate reason for this. The word “adopted”, and her labelling another man and woman as their parents jumped out at Wanda. ‘What?’ Wanda hissed.

‘Just a thought.’ She stepped out of the open window…and vanished.

Pietro rushed over and looked out. Air suddenly rushed past him. He looked up and around, puzzled. He pulled back in. ‘She’s gone.’ He looked at his sister. ‘What was in her head?’

Wanda told him. It didn’t make any sense to her. He became confused as well. This woman’s head implied that their own parents had actually adopted them, and that she was the one to find the Maximoffs for this purpose. Pietro opened the album and looked again.

‘We could look into it, I suppose…’

‘All right. We have a little time.’

Pietro looked at her. ‘So what did you do to Stark?’

Wanda smirked.

******

‘That was slightly illegal.’ Even as he said it, Logan was smirking.

‘Slightly?’ Scott asked from where he was driving. ‘I’m pretty sure breaking and entering is completely illegal.’

‘Yes, but they’re terrorists.’ Lennie leaned back. ‘Besides, it was the quickest way to get the message across.’

‘What message?’ Scott asked.

‘The Professor will tell you when we get back. I just need one more quick pit stop.’

The pit stop turned out to be a bar in New York City, where Mystique was stalking about.

 **Westchester, NY**  
‘Magneto has kids?’ Scott demanded.

Storm was startled herself. ‘So why are they only coming up now?’

The Professor smiled. ‘The children were born in 1990. Erik was told and immediately realised he would not be a suitable father for the children to be exposed to. Their mother fully agreed with this. He did still, however, send childcare payments to the woman.’

‘Magneto didn’t try to take advantage of having kids?’ Scott demanded. ‘I thought for sure he’d want to capitalise on the additional powers.’

Logan scoffed. ‘Obviously, Slim, he thinks more of his own flesh and blood than he does of every other power set he encounters.’

The Professor pretended the exchange hadn’t happened. ‘He gave their mother Lennie’s number, should the children ever manifest mutant abilities, so that she could direct them here. However, Lennie received this phone call only a few months after their birth for a completely different reason. The poor woman had contracted a terminal illness.’

‘She wanted me to help her find a suitable home for her children,’ Lennie went on. ‘She had been given a year. I found a Sokovian couple called the Maximoffs. They wanted kids, but Mrs. Maximoff was found to be infertile. They took the twins in the day their mother went into hospital for the last time.’

‘Lennie then gave the Maximoffs her number if they required any more of her help,’ the Professor said. ‘As they never called, Lennie presumed – after a quick check which confirmed no powers – that they simply hadn’t been born mutants. However, she made one oversight.’

‘I wasn’t aware that the country was embroiled in a civil war,’ Lennie said. ‘I checked in on five minutes of them at home. I had no idea. I also had no idea that, when they were ten, a mortar hit their home, killing their parents and trapping them inside.’

Storm drew back. ‘How long…?’

‘Two days,’ Lennie said. ‘During this time, all they saw was an unexploded shell with “Stark” written across it. This brought them to the logical,’ the word was said with heavy sarcasm, ‘conclusion that Tony Stark had killed their parents. I called up some old contacts. They’re tracking the bomb as we speak.’

‘That’s ridiculous!’ Scott insisted. ‘Everyone knows Stark’s weapons were sold illegally – behind his back! That’s why he became Iron Man!’

‘Ten year olds don’t have the best critical thinkin’ skills, Scooter,’ Logan said. ‘As far as they’re concerned, if it’s got yer name on it, it’s yours.’ He looked at Lennie. ‘Don’t tell me they still think that.’

Lennie shrugged. ‘I guess HYDRA doesn’t like its agents to have critical thinking skills.’

‘They joined HYDRA?’ Logan chuckled. ‘Oh, that’ll go down well.’

‘What’s HYDRA?’ Jean asked.

‘A neo-Nazi, pro-Soviet organisation hell-bent on world domination,’ Lennie said. ‘It also happens to be the reason they created Captain America in the first place.’ The phone rang. ‘And that’s Magneto.’

 **Sokovia**  
Pietro had gotten the last documents that had been pulled from their bombed home. In it, there was both a set of adoption slips for himself and Wanda and a letter detailing the reasons for the adoption. A mother dying of terminal illness and a father who’d decided he was not fit to raise children.

‘So we are adopted,’ Wanda murmured. ‘And our biological father still lives.’

Pietro nodded. It put a new slant on things, certainly. They were not truly orphans.

But it changed nothing.

 **Johannesburg**  
Baron von Strucker was shocked when he turned around and found an American woman with a gun. She smirked. ‘Hello, Baron. You made quite a few powerful people very angry.’

Strucker sneered. He went to mock her but she cut him off.

‘Did you ever wonder why the Maximoff twins were they only ones to survive your sick and twisted experiments?’

‘They were lucky,’ he said.

‘No. They had a mutant gene that the process activated.’ She smirked. ‘A mutant gene which they inherited from their father, who is a slightly unhinged fellow on good days. He was a Holocaust survivor, you know.’ She added this last bit as if it should be mildly interesting.

‘…You’re saying…?’

‘Even if you survive this, I wouldn’t consider myself safe.’ She shot.

Strucker ducked. The bullet missed, but she was gone.

The twins soon came and killed him.

**Sokivia**

Tony watched as Ultron’s robot army moved in. He still didn’t trust the Maximoff twins, and he wasn’t sure why Steve did. While he missed JARVIS, Vision was actually turning out to be a pretty good guy. He was even “worthy” enough to pick up Thor’s Hammer.

For some reason, though, the city was not lifting up as it was supposed to.  
‘Some outside force appears to be holding it down, Boss,’ FRIDAY’s Irish lilt informed him.

Seemed they weren’t working alone.

A tall middle-aged woman with long brown hair jogged around the corner and down the street. Clint moved to try to intercept her, but she easily ducked past him. Pietro and Wanda watched her calmly, and simply let her pass. Natasha tried next, but she dodged her too. Steve stepped forward and called out. ‘Ma’am, you can’t be here! It’s not safe.’

She, for her part, completely ignored him. ‘Sorry about that, Ultron. We’ve got all our geokinetics holding the city down.’

Steve looked floored. He looked at Natasha. ‘What are geokinetics?’

‘People who can control the earth,’ she said, sounding stunned.

Ultron seemed to scowl at her. ‘How many?’

‘No idea.’ She folded her arms. ‘Some from the X-Men. Some from the Brotherhood. Those guys are usually against each other, so I honestly couldn’t tell you how many the Brotherhood have. The X-Men have six though.’

‘X-Men?’ Tony wondered. ‘Brotherhood?’

‘Seeking data now, Boss.’

So was Vision, apparently. ‘The X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. Both are separate teams of organised mutants.’

‘Records indicate that the leader of the X-Men could be compared in method to Martin Luther King Jr.,’ FRIDAY said, ‘and the leader of the Brotherhood could be compared to Malcolm X. The only difference is that they fight for mutant rights, rather than civil.’

‘Oh,’ Tony said.

‘You think you can stop me?’ Ultron demanded.

‘No.’ The woman smirked and pointed. ‘But he can.’

They all looked to where she was pointing. There was a man standing atop a building. He looked old. At the same time, it might’ve been the scowl. He wore some kind of helmet and a long cape. It took Tony really longer than it should have to realise he wasn’t on the building. He was floating above it. The woman chuckled and looked at the twins.

‘Maximoff.’ She waited until she had their attention. ‘Say hello to daddy.’


	2. Mutant Daddy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda and Pietro joined HYDRA to kill the man they blamed for their parents' deaths.
> 
> They had no idea their real father was still alive.
> 
> And he's not going to be happy.

Steve watched as the man on the building raised his arms, spreading them wide and fingers splayed out, palms facing inwards. Steve wondered what the man was doing. Suddenly, his hands clenched into fists. There was a strange crunching sound and Steve spun around.

He watched in astonishment as a good chunk of Ultron’s army fell to the ground in a crushed heap. He spun back around. The man descended, slowly, the scowl still hardening his weathered face. He flicked his hands up again. Another chunk of the army was ripped apart. Who was this guy?

Then Steve noticed others were coming down, from all directions. One man jumped from robot to robot, tearing them apart like a wild animal – and he reminded Steve of someone, but he wasn’t sure who. Maybe someone he’d met in the war? Another seemed to be another robot, but he was ripping the others around him apart. There was a huge man that was bounding on top of the robots of Ultron’s army, and full-out crushing them. And that was just a few.

A bald man in a wheelchair rolled in, rounding the corner. He was followed by a small group of people. As the man in the cape landed, the bald man rolled to his side. Both men said nothing. The first man looked up at Ultron. As his army was being torn apart, by an uncountable number of enhanced individuals, Ultron was staring down at the man who had started it.

If he had a proper range of emotions, Steve would say he looked outraged and bewildered

‘You are nothing!’ He charged.

The man waited until he came close enough, and then he lifted his hand. Ultron was stopped dead in his tracks. He waited. The noise eventually quietened down. Steve realised the army had already been obliterated by all these people. They all made their way over. It didn’t escape Steve’s notice how half of them stood on the right of the man in the wheelchair, and the other half stood on the left of the first man.

It was exactly as the brunette woman had said: they were generally separate teams, who had only united for a common foe.

Steve looked for her. He was startled, and somewhat appalled, to find that she was sitting on the sidewalk with an electric kettle – where had she gotten that? – and talking to Tony, Rhodey, Bruce, and Vision over coffee. Tony and Rhodey had even removed their helmets for the conversation. She then lifted her head and called.

‘You get all that, Logan?’

The familiar-looking one answered as he pulled out a cigar. ‘I got it.’

The one in the cape spoke to Ultron, drawing Steve’s attention back. ‘Every part of you is magnetic. Attacking me was extremely foolish. But, I find you the most worrisome indicator I have ever had the pleasure of dismantling.’

‘What is that supposed to mean?’

‘It means, due to you, I question my daughter’s mental state.’ He extended his other hand. There was a groaning noise, and then the sound of metal tearing. The heart burst right out of Ultron. The whole thing dropped to the ground.

‘Daughter?’ Natasha asked.

‘Wanda and Pietro are his children,’ the first woman said.

‘I thought Tony killed their parents,’ Clint said.

She looked at him like he was an idiot – and so did all the others who’d taken out the robot army. The brunette sighed. ‘Actually, an unspecified mortar killed their parents. And those were just their adoptive parents. Speaking of…’ She turned to the twins. ‘You do realise HYDRA is neo-Nazi and your dad is a Holocaust survivor?’

The twins looked at each other, eyes wide and jaws dropping.

Natasha and Clint winced. Maria’s eyebrow lifted, almost in amusement. But Tony, Rhodey, and Bruce all went, ‘Ooooooh!’

Steve looked around, confused. ‘Holocaust…?’ What was this Holocaust?

Seemed he was the only one who didn’t know.

At that point, the twins’ father – and why hadn’t he raised them if he was their father? – stepped forward. He flicked his fingers at the twins. They walked forward, slowly, like they were afraid. Steve wanted to step forward to stop whatever was happening. They did help, after all. However, the familiar-looking guy was suddenly in his path. His restraining hand on Steve’s shoulder was enough to tell him, height aside, this guy was not, in any way, weaker than him.

It gave Steve enough of a shock that he stopped.

The twins came to stop before their father. He glared at them both. He flicked his hands again. They glanced at each other and took a step apart. Then he suddenly moved, slapping them both across the faces. Their heads jerked to the side. Had they been any closer, their heads would have collided. That was why he wanted them to step apart!

‘You two are in significant trouble!’ he snapped. ‘We’ll start with your joining a pack of terrorists and allowing yourselves to be subjected to human experimentation! Do you realise if not for my mutant gene in your blood, you would have certainly died! That’s not even mentioning your reasons! It is one thing to blame a manufacturer when you are ten. Once you get to eighteen, though, this argument should have fallen apart years ago!’

Steve went to argue, but the guy – Logan, he remembered – rolled his eyes and clamped a hand over Steve’s mouth. Steve tried to push him away, but the man’s hand was like a vice grip. It wasn’t moving. Steve realised, with a shock, that this man was actually stronger than him.

He heard Tony sniggering behind him.

‘Pietro.’ He turned to his son. ‘I shall grant you that your list of crimes is shorter than your sister’s, but you still killed people for no reason other than you were told to. Did it not once occur to you that blaming a manufacturing CEO for a bomb that does not explode during a civil war was extremely illogical and more than a bit far-fetched. His company just made it. They didn’t drop it!’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘Apart from that, everyone and his grandma knows that Stark Industries only sold weapons to the US and allied militaries. Any weapons sold to anyone else were sold under the table, and quite illegally, without Stark’s knowledge. If you’d been anywhere near a newspaper in 2008, you’d know who by. And he’s dead. He was killed on his third attempt to kill Stark himself.’

Steve would have liked to say something, but the guy’s hand was still clamped over his mouth. He looked around at the rest of the team he could see. Maria was writing something down, apparently unconcerned. Natasha and Clint were pointedly not looking at him. Obviously, they didn’t like their chances of taking on someone who could hold Captain America in place.

‘Wanda.’ As her father’s gaze settled on her, Wanda seemed to shrink into herself. ‘I don’t even know where to start with you!’ He shook his head. ‘Mind-raping people, creating that monstrosity…’

What? She didn’t create it! Tony did! Clint went to open his mouth, likely to argue the point, but a glare from the guy holding Steve’s mouth shut silenced the archer.

‘…and then pegging it on Stark.’ The older man scowled. ‘“Ultron can’t tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he got that?”’ He scoffed. ‘Did you even think that remark through, girl?! Stark has already made several artificial intelligences. This is the first one that ever turned out like this. So what’s the difference? The difference is that you poked about in his head. You knew what you were doing – don’t pretend you didn’t! Then, next up, you unleashed the Hulk on a city – as a _distraction_!’

‘Wait. That was her?’ Clint sounded horrified.

‘What? Did you need a neon light?’ Tony asked.

‘Yeah,’ the brunette woman said. ‘It was kind of obvious.’

‘Do you know what you two are going to do now?’ Their father folded his hands behind his back.

They slowly shook their heads.

‘You are going to go back to the mansion with Professor Xavier here.’ He nodded to the man in the wheelchair. ‘You are going to stay there and do everything he tells you to do until you fully comprehend what it is you have done. Charles will decide when that is. Is that understood?’

They both nodded, contrite.

Logan turned his head to the brunette. ‘You coming?’

‘I’ll catch up.’

Logan dropped his hand and walked away. He took the twins by the shoulders and led them away after the others. Steve couldn’t let them just walk out with the twins. He needed them! If he could convince everyone that former HYDRA agents could turn over a new leaf, then he could get Bucky out of trouble for the years he’d been brainwashed as the Winter Soldier.

‘Hold on. You can’t…’

Magneto flicked his fingers and the huge one from his side shot over and got in his face. ‘Might want to watch your mouth, blondie. I’m even stronger than the Wolverine, but I ain’t so nice.’

‘Erik,’ the Professor called Magneto over. Magneto walked over and leaned down. The man whispered something in his ear.

Erik…Magneto…whatever it was, he frowned. ‘Thank you for telling me, Charles.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know we haven't had the pleasure of a Wolverine/Captain America conflict in the MCU.
> 
> However, in the other media available to us (mainly comics), Steve has never defeated Logan in a one-on-one fight. Based on that, and their respective power-sets, I'm very strongly of the opinion that the Wolverine is stronger than Captain America.
> 
> I don't see him having much trouble holding Steve's mouth shut.


	3. Questions and Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for Magneto to have a little chat with Captain America.

Jean looked back and watched Logan march the twins to the X-Jet.

What she did know was that they were more contrite over joining and acting for a neo-Nazi organisation when their father turned out to be a Holocaust survivor than anything else. She was appalled that Captain America had been back for three years now and no one had bothered to tell him what the Holocaust was. Shouldn’t that have come up at some point?

But, more than anything, she was confused. _Why did Magneto hand his kids over to us?_ She telepathically asked Xavier, careful to keep her shields up against Wanda.

_Erik always knew there was something wrong with his mindset. He wouldn’t stop it for the world, but he knew there was something wrong with it. That’s why he kept his distance from them. He didn’t want to contaminate them with his hatred and bitterness. Even now, he realises telling them that they shouldn’t be hateful and bitter wouldn’t help them when he is doing exactly that. He knows that I can set the children straight, and teach them not to be so vicious with their powers._

_But I thought Magneto liked to get all the powers he could…_

_He likes to collect powers he deems useful, yes. But remember, Jean, these are his own children, not just troubled youths he found on the street._

That must have made a difference.

The Professor went on. _Look at Logan, for example. Many presume him to be an animal, and he does have many characteristics of one. However, he has perfect control over his powers. Even in a Berserker Rage, he will not harm allies who happen to get in his way. He will always try to understand a situation before he attacks, even in self-defence. And he is not prone to assumption and petty revenge as these two are._

That was true. Logan was the best disciplinarian in the school – much to Scott’s annoyance – and he was often the one holding down the emotionally compromised ones. There wasn’t a single time when he didn’t ask questions – except with soldiers. And even there the answer was simple: they’re following orders. While Logan did use lethal force, it was never his first option.

…And…she supposed the twins being Magneto’s own children had to count.

******

Bruce was honestly more surprised that a majority of the team had to be told Wanda was responsible for triggering the Hulk in Johannesburg. Tony had known instantly. Even this woman they’d never met – Lennie, she’d introduced herself as – had known it and she had never even met them. Hell, even Magneto had known and he, it turned out, was supposed to be in the category of “don’t care”. Lennie explained that too.

He cared because his daughter had caused extensive damage, injury, and loss of life for a mere distraction.

_‘In his book there are certain reasons you can do that kind of damage – but that isn’t one of them.’_

So Magneto was, technically, a bad guy – even if a self-aware one. Lennie had explained this when she’d sat down with them. She had asked them for the story behind Ultron. She’d wanted to know what’d happened from their perspectives. It wasn’t something the rest of the Avengers had bothered with. As they talked through it, though, Bruce became more and more aware of what he’d overlooked before.

Ultron should have had no way of coming into existence.

They’d just finished when the fight did. Watching their father slap the twins and then read them the riot act was one of the most satisfying things he’d ever seen. If not, it was the other guy – Logan or the Wolverine – holding the Cap’s mouth shut. The idea there was someone around stronger than Captain America was borderline amusing to be honest.

Bruce had seen the man use his strength to assert control over other people. Hell, he’d thrown his shield at Tony! If that armour hadn’t activated in time, Tony would either be dead or in hospital in a critical condition right now. Bruce had seen it before too – the Cap pushing around baseline humans because he wasn’t happy with them or he wanted something. It really made him question the “hero” status.

Now, Cap was trying it again. He was putting on his hero voice. ‘You’re their father, sir?’

Magneto looked at him like he was a particularly annoying gnat. ‘Yes.’

‘So why didn’t you raise them yourself?’ Steve’s tone was challenging and judgemental. ‘Had you bothered to stick around, I doubt you would have been killed so easily by one of Stark’s bombs and they wouldn’t have fallen into HYDRA’s hands. They made a mistake because their father abandoned them, and you think you can just waltz in here and punish them for something when they already realised they made a mistake.’

Bruce wasn’t sure Steve had a sense of self-preservation with how oblivious he was to the murderous looks Magneto’s followers were giving him. Magneto himself smirked, like a snake about to strike its prey. Beside them, Lennie chuckled to herself in amusement.

‘Presumptive ass-hat, isn’t he?’ she remarked.

‘Indeed,’ Magneto said. ‘Do you know where I was when you gained those pounds of muscles, Mr. Rogers?’ He put a particular emphasis on the “mister”. ‘I was a thirteen year old lad, being experimented on in a Nazi concentration camp. I doubt you understand what that means. You didn’t even know what the Holocaust was.’

Well, the expression on his face when it’d come up was enough to tell anyone that.

Steve drew back.

Magneto went on. ‘You seem to be under the impression that I did not care about my own children, Mr. Rogers, when in fact I did. I made an informed decision to distance them from my own crusade of rage and hate. Had they grown up under my hand, they would have seen nothing wrong with killing you little homo sapiens.’

Steve’s eyes narrowed. ‘They helped us.’

‘And you believe they did this because they were sorry about what they had done?’ He chuckled and shook his head. ‘No, because they believe they have done nothing wrong. They, quite wrongly, believe they are justified. They helped you not because they realised they were wrong. They helped you because they realised Ultron would kill them as well.’

Steve’s expression turned mulish. ‘That’s not true. They’re just kids.’

‘They’re 24,’ Magneto said in a completely flat voice. ‘What were you doing at 24?’

Steve didn’t answer.

‘Hey, Tony, what were you doing at 24?’ Lennie asked, offhandedly.

‘Running a company,’ Tony said.

‘And you, Colonel?’ she asked Rhodey.

‘I was in the air force, flying missions.’

Lennie looked at Bruce. ‘Dr, Banner?’

‘I was earning my first PhD,’ Bruce said.

‘Hm.’ She turned back to Steve. ‘Very adult. Never in the course of human history has anyone at the age of 24 been considered “a kid”. So don’t insult them.’

‘I’m not insulting them,’ Steve stated firmly. It would almost be believable. ‘They deserve a second chance.’

Then Magneto’s lips turned up, in a malicious sneer. ‘You mean you want to use them as precedence to get your brainwashed war buddy out of trouble for his seventy-plus years of unwilling political assassinations.’

Steve paled. ‘How…?’ He quickly recovered himself. ‘I never said that!’

‘No, but you thought it,’ Magneto said. ‘Charles heard you.’

‘What are you even…?’ Steve stumbled, looking for some explanation and some way to talk himself out of this corner.

‘Charles Xavier is the most powerful telepath in the world,’ Lennie said. ‘Yeah, that guy in the wheelchair. He can hear you from up to 250 miles away. You weren’t even standing one mile away from him.’

So that was what Steve had really been thinking.

‘Cap!’ Tony went for outraged, but it was clear he was deeply amused by the situation. ‘Trying to exploit children, really! And while their father’s right there!’ He tutted at him.

Steve glared at Tony. ‘I’m not you, Tony. I don’t use people for my own gain.’

The entirety of the Brotherhood cracked up laughing. Steve twisted around, looking offended. Magneto stood there, smirking, waiting for them to settle down. Lennie just shook her head. Anyone could see that Steve was trying to fork the blame off of himself.

Once his followers calmed down, Magneto spoke. ‘Mr. Rogers, over the past three years, I have seen Mr. Stark stand up following every disaster he has been involved in – whether that be by Iron Man or the Avengers. He stands up and he answers for his actions, pays legal compensations to those who have been damaged by his actions, cleans up the messes that have been left. The final point is not necessarily by his own actions. I have seen none of you do any such thing. None of you bothered to explain to the public why any place was ripped apart. None of you helped to clean up the messes you made.’

‘We were helping people!’ Steve insisted.

‘And do you expect them to instantly understand that?’ Magneto asked, arching a single eyebrow at him. ‘Do you expect them to see that you were “saving” them when they have to bury their friends, their family, even their own children? Of course not.’

‘And what about your kids?’ Clint snapped. ‘You’re not taking any responsibility for them.’

Magneto gave him a withering glare. ‘I leave my own children in the hands of my oldest friend because I know he will take far better care of them than I ever could. I am not a good man to follow by example. I lead a bitter crusade because the only way I see to deal with our problems is to force people to fear us. I see myself as better than you little homo sapiens. I am a bad guy. As I said before, I stayed away from them to keep them from feeling this bitter hatred.’

Bruce couldn’t help but think. If he was a bad guy, he was an extremely self-aware one. He knew his outlook on life would be damaging to his children. He loved them enough to give them up to others. He trusted Professor Charles Xavier enough to hand them over to him. Magneto closed the conversation with one sentence.

‘Now it must be shaken out of them.’


	4. A New Leaf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pietro and Wanda are living in the Xavier Mansion.
> 
> They have a lot to learn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning. This chapter is very expository. It covers several months.

Pietro remembered they first time they’d been taken out and marched out of the X-Jet. They’d been led through an area and turned over to the hands of the Wolverine. He was actually quite intimidating. Over the next couple of months, though, Pietro learned that he would not hurt them – unless he felt they were a threat to the student body.

The first thing that they did was scan Pietro and Wanda. Later, they found that this was so they could have an accurate picture of their powers. That way, they could train them better. For instance, Pietro had no idea that if he touched someone, in any way, while in super-speed, he could kill them. He found that out in the Danger Room, while he was running through exercises that’d been set out for him.

They had holograms that acted like real people and objects, and reacted like real people and objects.

A tap in super-speed produced enough force to shatter a man’s skull.

For the first time in his memory, Pietro was pushed to critically examine his beliefs: Was Tony Stark really responsible for his (adoptive) parents’ deaths? Oh, you think he was? Look at all this evidence. Do you still think so? Yes? Why? Baron Von Strucker? But he was HYDRA, wasn’t he? Didn’t it serve his purpose to have you think that? Precisely. Now what does that say?

It soon became apparent that if anyone in Stark Industries was responsible for the deaths of his (adoptive) parents, it was the late Obadiah Stane. He and Wanda had been taken advantage of and played like fiddles. Now, it was time to let go of their hate and accept it had been used against them. It had never helped, and it frankly never would.

Knowing that the men truly responsible were dead – one by their own hands and the other had slit his own throat – helped considerably.

For Pietro.

Wanda took a good deal longer. She had clung to her hate for so long, she was reluctant to let go. It had to be prised away from her. It would also turn out that what she had been doing for so many years was a big telepathic no-no. Entering someone else’s mind without their consent, and without need, was considered an invasion of privacy. If one exerted power over their minds in doing so, it became something known as mind-rape.

Pietro was, unsurprisingly, the first one allowed onto the field. He was the first one to acknowledge he had done something wrong, and work to remedy the problem. He was the first to acknowledge he was one of many; his (adoptive) parents had simply been two casualties of war out of hundreds, possibly thousands. Wanda was resistant to the idea that she had been wrong.

Wanda had always been the more stubborn of the two. She was also the most selfish of them. Of course, Logan had absolutely no patience for self-centeredness, and he let her know exactly what he thought of her attitude. Logan spent months and months grinding the whole thing into her head.

She was not entitled to more than the others.

Stark was not responsible for their (adoptive) parents’ deaths.

She could not just attack anyone who disagreed with her.

She was not all-powerful.

As a matter of fact, just as Pietro had found limits to his powers there were limits to Wanda’s as well. While their old handlers had focused more on her powers of mental manipulation, they had neglected everything else in her…because it did not serve them. She was clumsy with physical manipulation and if she wanted to go into someone’s mind to help them, she hadn’t the faintest idea how to go about it.

And she didn’t react well to so many telepathy-resistant people around her.

Her temper tantrums became worse – for a time.

Logan gave her incentive to work on physical manipulation. If she broke anything, he forced her to clean up her messes. One time she threw a tantrum and broke a window. For the next hour, Logan had her cleaning up the shattered glass and then vacuuming the floor around it – on both sides – in case she missed anything. Then when the new glass plane arrived, she had to help him put it in.

It wasn't the last time that happened either.

Pietro opened the fridge. ‘Is there any corned beef left?’ he asked nobody in particular.

‘I think it’s at the back of the middle shelf,’ Rouge said.

‘Ah.’ He found the plate of leftover corned beef that he’d been looking for and set about making himself a corned beef sandwich.

‘How’s your sister coming along?’ Bobby asked.

‘I think she’s finally getting that Logan’s not _trying_ to be mean,’ Pietro said. ‘She did that third window with hardly a complaint.’

‘Well, she broke it,’ Kurt remarked.

‘Exactly.’ Pietro put the remainder of the corned beef back in the fridge and brought his sandwich back to his friends at the table.

It was really the first time he’d had friends apart from his sister. But Lennie had a point. She was the one who’d come into their apartment. She had known their father and she was with the X-Men. She’d made it very clear when he’d had questions about people like Scott Summers.

_‘There are two bunches of people here: those that the Professor found immediately, and those that had to survive on their own for a while before he did find them. The first group include people like Scott and Jean. They’ve been protected from the ugly part of the world and they never had to lie and steal, and even kill, to survive. They don’t have the self-awareness to see why they never had to, so they are hyper-critical of the latter group, who had to do this.’ She’d paused. ‘Mind you…Jean’s getting better.’_

Rouge, Bobby, and Kurt were three in the latter group. They had all been on the run in one form or another before the Professor approached them. And, of them all, he had the most in common with Kurt. Like Pietro and Wanda, Kurt was the child of one of the X-Men’s enemies – specifically Mystique.

Like himself, Kurt’s mother had chosen not to raise him. However, unlike his father neither of Kurt’s parents had bothered to ensure he would be cared for. Granted, that was slightly more difficult as Kurt was blue-skinned and three-fingered. If Mystique did not want him to tread the same path as herself, she’d merely been very lucky. Magneto, at least, had no way of knowing what would happen to his children; that they’d be thrown into the situation they were.

Pietro was actually grateful to his father.

******

Professor Xavier switched off the television. It looked as though the UN was drafting up a piece of legislation for super-powered individuals. He should like to contact Mr. Stark to see how this would affect mutantkind and if they could have any say in the document. He’d actually been speaking with the man quite regularly, and he’d found him to be one of the most conscientious and compassionate human beings he’d ever had the pleasure to meet.

If hope was personified, it should take the form of Tony Stark.

Ever since he’d told him what he’d seen in the Captain’s mind, Tony and his friend, Bruce Banner, had been distancing themselves from the self-righteous man. They took all their equipment and moved to another compound. Col. Rhodes stayed behind only to keep an eye on the Avengers left behind. He’d already found them prone to slipping off in order to interfere in international incidents more times than one could count. That didn't even count the number of times they illegally crossed borders to look for the Captain's friend, Mr. Barnes - who, quite plainly, had no interest in being found.

It only served to illustrate the need for the Accords.

The twins were making progress. Pietro had been far more open to new information, he’d been pleased to inform Erik. He had looked at the evidence and, with only a small amount of resistance, conceded the point. Wanda, unfortunately, had been far more difficult to bring around. Now, though, she was slowly accepting the fact that she was irrational in her hate and the childish emotions she’d clung to had been used against her.

She was slowly coming to realise that Tony Stark had nothing to do with her (adoptive) parents dying. She was slowly realising the hate and lust for vengeance she’d held toward the poor man, whose only crime was inheriting a weapons company from his father, was not justified.

It was a gradual process, coaxing one to release long-held assumptions, but it was worth the effort. Teaching her the proper use of her powers became easier the more she let go of her hate. As her brother had said, she was selfish, so in the early days he’d gotten her to understand by asking “how would you feel if…”, and it had made her stop and think. It made her stop.

Now, though, the Scarlet Witch was nearly ready for her first field test.

**Brotherhood HQ**  
‘So why did you release them into Charles’s hands?’ Mystique asked as she and Magneto strode through their base of operations.

Magneto smiled knowingly. ‘Why did you allow Kurt to remain in his hands? We both know Charles is going to take care of them, even if they are ours.’

Mystique nodded. ‘I would rather Kurt have the option of a somewhat normal life rather than following my lead. You feel the same for the twins.’

Magneto nodded. ‘It is different when they are your own flesh and blood, isn’t it?’

Mystique lifted a blue hand. ‘The difference is they don’t have this skin colour. You had an easier time finding them a surrogate family.’

‘Well…I did have help.’


	5. Civil War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers Civil War goes a little bit differently.
> 
> More specifically, the battle at the airport goes a little bit differently.

**Westchester, New York, 2016**  
‘Captain America, the Winter Soldier, and the Falcon collapsed a tunnel on a major highway during knock-off traffic,’ Lennie said as the team selected for this mission strode towards the X-Jet. ‘Mostly the former two. When we get there they’ll have enlisted Hawkeye and Ant-Man, without really telling either everything that’s going on.’

‘Rogers is good at that,’ Logan remarked.

‘Ant-Man?’ Peter Rasputin mused. ‘Isn’t he that idiot that nearly made a black hole in a suburban street?’

‘Yup,’ Lennie said. ‘Good thing I got to Reed in time, huh?’

Jean winced. ‘We’d all be dead if you hadn’t. Did you call Tony?’

‘Yeah.’ Lennie chuckled. ‘I have never heard a man sound so relieved. He was actually considering bringing in Spider-Man. Luckily, this renders that unnecessary.’

‘Why would calling in Spider-Man be as bad as you’re making it out to be?’ Scott asked.

‘Because the kid’s fifteen or sixteen,’ Lennie said. ‘I figure Tony’s been pushed to the end of his rope.’

‘Some hero Rogers turns out to be,’ Scott remarked.

‘I never thought he was,’ Logan mused, heading into the jet.

‘Yeah, me neither.’ Lennie followed.

**Leipzig, Germany**  
‘I’m trying to stop you from tearing the Avengers apart,’ Tony said.

Steve wasn’t going to take that. ‘You did that when you signed, Tony.’

Tony’s eyes flickered to the side. FRIDAY had probably told him something. Tony frowned and huffed. Steve nodded to his team. They had to get past Tony and get to Siberia. The jet was the fastest way to do that. Scott Lang was perched on his shield, waiting. Steve wouldn’t make him wait too long.

Pulling his arm back, he let the shield fly. For some reason, Tony just stood there and folded his arms. What was wrong with him? If he didn’t move, it’d hit him. Well, maybe it’d teach him not to be so cocky. Tony deserved it after all the stunts he’d pulled.

Steve’s shield stopped in midair. Red mist wrapped around it. Steve’s confusion quickly cleared. He looked around. There was Wanda Maximoff, hands up and glowing red. Tony had known she was there! How had he managed to trick her into helping him? She hated him.

‘Wanda?’ he called. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ she responded. ‘Stopping you bunch of idiots.’

Steve shook his head. ‘There’s a lot going on here you don’t understand, Wanda.’

Wanda smirked. ‘Are you forgetting something, Captain? I read minds.’ With a wave of her left hand, Scott was sent flying off the shield and returned to full size. Red binds appeared on his wrists and ankles.

‘Cap!’ Tony sounded inappropriately amused. ‘You brought a new friend and you didn’t tell us? Rude!’

There was laughter from behind them. The brunette woman from Sokovia – Lennie, he thought they’d called her – stepped between Tony and Natasha. She shook her head and took the shield out of the air. Wanda let go of it, but she didn’t let go of Scott. Lennie smirked at Steve. ‘You can have this back when you start behaving yourself.’

Steve gritted his teeth. He started the charge and his team followed suit. Sam took to the air. Steve headed right for Lennie. She ducked behind Tony in time for him to intercept him. Both helmets flicked over Tony’s and Rhodes’s faces right before Tony and Steve clashed. Bucky suddenly had to contend with the Black Panther. Rhodes and Vision took off after Sam. Steve imagined Clint and Natasha were duking it out but he had no idea what Wanda was doing.

Grinding his teeth, Steve kicked Tony back and through a truck, right into a wall. The truck burst into flames. Steve glanced around but Lennie had disappeared – with his shield! Well, he’d get her later. He ran in Bucky’s direction and punched the Black Panther, sending him flying into a window.

Without giving him a chance to get up, Steve grabbed Bucky and pulled him away. ‘Come on!’ They ran for the jet. They’d barely crossed half the distance when something hit him. Steve didn’t see what it was but both of them flew back and hit the ground.

Steve’s shoulder throbbed as if someone extremely powerful had punched it. His head had hit the concrete and he blinked a couple of times. His vision quickly cleared. The power behind that…Steve expected to see someone of extreme size with huge muscles. Instead, he saw Pietro come out of super-speed.

Pietro smirked. ‘You did not see that coming?’ he quipped, echoing words from a year ago.

Steve rolled to his feet. Wait, super-strength wasn’t part of Pietro’s powers. Bucky moved into a crouch…and froze. Steve looked down at him and followed his gaze. Pietro looked over his shoulder with a smirk. The man approaching them from the direction of the jet was the same guy that’d held his mouth closed last year – Wolverine. Steve got ready for a fight.

Bucky lifted his hands in surrender.

Steve looked back at him in confusion. ‘We can’t give up, Buck!’

‘We can’t fight that guy, Stevie!’ Bucky insisted. ‘Do you have any idea what he’s capable of?’

‘Nothing we can’t handle,’ Steve said firmly.

Pietro snorted in amusement and spoke to the Wolverine. ‘Apparently, he learned nothing from your last meeting.’

Bucky shook his head. ‘You don’t get it, Steve. That guy is the Wolverine. He’s Weapon X! He was a super-soldier _before_ they enhanced him!’

That was impossible! Sure, maybe that had been what they told Bucky, but no one was born with superpowers.

‘Enhanced!’ Lennie’s voice reached him. She was standing off to the left. She seemed to be leaning against thin air. ‘What a nice way to put “bonded boiling-point adamantium to his bones”.’

Steve made to move at her. He had to get his shield back!  
The Wolverine shot at him. Steve drove his elbow back to knock him back. His arm was stopped though when the Wolverine caught his forearm. Steve was suddenly reminded of the man’s enhanced strength as he was yanked back. Grinding his teeth, the super-soldier turned and punched, aiming for the Wolverine’s nose.

The Wolverine caught his fist. Steve tried to pull back, but the grip on him was too strong. Glancing over the Wolverine’s shoulder, he saw Bucky had dropped to his knees. He was watching them in part worry and part…was that exasperation? Steve’s attention was suddenly drawn back as the Wolverine easily threw him by his arms. Steve tumbled.

_SNITKT!_

That sound was all Steve heard before he found himself pinned on his back. He looked up just as the Wolverine landed over him. Steve’s eyes were immediately drawn to the claws. Three on each hand, coming out from between his knuckles, sharp and silver. One set was pressed against his throat and the other against his chest.

If he’d only had his shield…!

‘I wouldn’t move if I were you.’ His voice was a low growl, a warning. If Steve moved, those claws would slice into him. Super-soldier or not, that would kill him.

Steve looked around, seeking help. He spotted Bucky first. Pietro had a hand on his shoulder. Bucky was still on his knees with his head bowed. Steve looked around wildly as he saw a red beam from the corner of his eye. A man with a visor over his eyes had shot out a laser from the visor. It hit Sam’s wings and he dropped. Wanda lifted her hands. She slowed Sam’s decent so he didn’t hurt himself when he landed. Then she strapped him to the ground as she had Scott.

Clint was knocked back by a blue-skinned man with a tail. He looked almost like the devil. A redhead woman, who Steve didn’t know, walked over with her hand upraised. Clint’s bow was forcibly ripped away. Natasha stared around in awe as she watched Steve’s side be completely dominated.

Lennie walked past them. She stood in the middle of the chaos and then lifted her arms. She flicked her fingers. Steve was suddenly yanked up, the Wolverine’s claws still remaining at his throat but the other man now had a tight grip on the back of his neck. Steve was forced over. Bucky got to his feet and allowed himself to be pushed over by Pietro.

The blue guy took a hold of Clint’s shoulders. Vision came back down and grabbed Scott. Rhodes hauled Sam up. Wanda let all three of them go. The five of them were taken to stand in front of Lennie. The rest of them, a few he recognised and a few he didn’t, gathered around.

‘You guys don’t understand!’ Sam insisted. ‘We have to get to Siberia…’

The redhead Steve didn’t recognise frowned. ‘Why didn’t you just say that first off? It would have saved a lot of trouble.’

‘Said what?’ the Wolverine asked, voice considerably more gentle.

‘Looks like someone called Zemo is going to Siberia to wake up five more Winter Soldiers,’ she said.

What? How had she known that?

Tony’s helmet retracted and he slapped himself in the forehead. ‘Really? Don’t you think that’s a little bit important?!’

‘What could you have done?’ Steve demanded. ‘The Accords…’

‘The Accords have nothing to do with this,’ Tony snapped. ‘This is just you trying to play the big hero.’

‘The better question is: what could you have done?’ Wanda asked. ‘You have three baseline humans. One would only be useful when it comes to sneaking in. The Falcon would not be of much use in a HYDRA base. The area’s too cramped. And your third baseline human shoots arrows. Of course there are two super-soldiers, but one of them is triggered into a mindless assassin by a few words, if I’m not mistaken – words that this man knows.’

‘Yeah,’ Lennie said. ‘You’d all die horribly.’ She paused. ‘More likely than not, you wouldn’t be fighting five super-soldiers. It’d be six. This plan is horrible. Besides, there’s an easier way to do it.’

Steve glared at her. ‘What’s that?’

‘Well, he has no private transport, so he’ll be using commercial flight, which means he’ll have to stop over in Moscow. If you flew normally, you’d know he can’t possibly be there yet.’ Lennie pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She dialled and held it out to the robot-looking guy. ‘Peter, do you mind? I have a thick American accent.’

The guy suddenly turned to flesh – a muscular blond man – and took the phone. He lifted it to his ear and immediately started speaking fluent Russian. Lennie smirked and looked them over. ‘All right. Him,’ she pointed at Clint, ‘him,’ and then Sam, ‘and him.’ She pointed at Scott last. ‘We’ll turn them into the German authorities, seeing as their worst crime right now is trespass on German borders.’ She looked at Steve and Bucky. ‘We’ll take those two with us.’

Rhodes’s faceplate flicked up. ‘You’re taking them with you?’

Lennie chuckled. ‘Do you know of any other places with cells that can contain mutates with superhuman strength?’

Rhodes seemed to consider it for a moment.

Lennie turned to Wanda. ‘Barnes can keep his hands in front of him. He’ll come quietly. As for the others, behind their backs.’

Wanda nodded. Steve’s hands were yanked behind his back. The same thing happened to Clint, Sam, and Scott. Bucky calmly placed his hands in front of him. As red bonds appeared around his wrists, Steve felt something warm wrap around his own.

They were marched across the airstrip and Lennie lifted a device. She hit a button. A different jet faded into visibility. They were marched up and in. All of them were sat at the back and then driven out with Wanda and the Wolverine standing guard over them. There was one stop where Clint, Sam, and Scott were walked out.

Steve was agitated all the way on the long flight back to the States. When they finally stopped, he was yanked up by the Wolverine and marched out. Bucky was pushed by the shoulder by someone else. They stepped down into a sterile room and through a set of doors that opened in an X shape. The halls they were led down were silver chrome.

Steve tried to turn back when they led Bucky off in another direction, but the Wolverine pushed him forward. Steve kept silent because he wanted to take stock of what was going on. Maybe he could work out how to escape and then go and save Bucky. He just hoped nothing happened to his friend before he worked out how.

The Wolverine pushed him into a room. As far as cells went, it wasn’t too bad. There was a barred room, with a peculiar metal for the bars, that contained a cot, a sink, a desk and chair, and a remote control. Steve looked around to see what the remote was for. There was a TV mounted to the wall outside the cell. There was also a door on the side of the cell.

The Wolverine pushed him in and closed the door. As soon as he left, Steve shot over to the bars. He squeezed them and tried to twist them. After ten minutes of this with no success – the bars would not move nor bend – he finally admitted that Lennie hadn’t been exaggerating. This cell was designed with superhuman strength in mind. Steve went and looked at what was on the other side of the door.

A small bathroom. They had no intention of pulling him out of here for anything.

Steve spent the next few days trying to work out how to get out. He turned on the TV a few times.

_‘…Former Avengers on trial in Germany, Romania, and Nigeria for…’_

_‘…Zemo was apprehended at the Moscow airport…’_

_‘The Accords are reaching further negotiations, now involving mutants and inhumans who are found to be the very definition of “super-powered individuals”…’_

_‘Thaddeus Ross removed from office after he was found guilty of infringements on basic human rights…’_

On his third day in, the door opened and Lennie walked into the room. She stood on the other side of the bars. Her expression was dark. ‘Zemo was caught in Moscow. He had a video tape on him. Do you want to hazard a guess as to what was on that video tape?’

Steve scowled at her.

‘Apparently, someone recorded the Winter Soldier killing Howard and Maria Stark.’

Steve’s blood ran cold. Bucky had been caught on tape?

‘We all saw it.’ Lennie glared at him. ‘Seeing as Tony is currently recovering from the shock, I thought I’d drop in and ask. Did you know about this?’

‘No.’

Lennie glanced up. ‘Rogers, this building contains quite a few telepaths. I’m currently in contact with one. Don’t lie to me.’ She rolled her neck. ‘How long have you known?’

Steve swallowed. ‘Two years.’

‘And why didn’t you tell Tony?’

‘He didn’t need to know.’

‘Bullshit.’ Lennie didn’t give him a chance to interrupt her. ‘Tony Stark was their son. He was the first person with a right to know. It would have set him at ease to know. Do you have any idea what the cover story for this was?’

Of course he knew that! ‘A car accident.’

Lennie smirked. ‘That Howard was drunk behind the wheel. For 25 years, Tony blamed his father for that accident; it tainted his memory of him. To know that his dad was stone sober and there was a third party involved would have been a load off for him.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘What Tony didn’t need was to find out by watching a video of it. I’ll ask again. Why didn’t you tell him? Was it because it was your best bud?’

‘That wasn’t Bucky!’ Steve launched himself at the bars. ‘It was HYDRA! They brainwashed him!’

‘Yes, they did.’ Lennie’s voice was cold. ‘And he will receive treatment for it. But you concealed a murder. Technically, that makes you an accessory to murder.’ She inclined her head. ‘I saw the CCTV footage, you know. The one where you said to Tony “take of the suit and what are you”. Shall I tell you? Tony Stark is a genius. He’s compassionate and considerate. He cares about the people he harms, especially if it’s unintentional.’

‘Since when?’ Steve demanded.

‘Projection will get you nowhere, Mr. Rogers.’ Lennie shook her head. ‘That suit didn’t come out of nowhere, you know. He made it as part of a plan to survive, and then he used it to help others survive. Aside from his brain, his ingenuity is his best asset. He can look at a problem – any problem – and come up with a solution others can only dream of.’

‘Howard was a better man,’ Steve snapped.

‘Let’s talk about that, shall we?’ Lennie walked over. ‘Both Howard and Tony built you everything you ever asked of them. Howard spent most of his life looking for you in a frozen wasteland, forsaking his relationship with his son as a side-effect. Tony did his very best to help you adapt to the 21st century when you were found. And this is how you repay them? For their supposed lack of rectitude, they were far better friends to you than you ever were to them.’

Steve glared at her. He tried to come up with an answer, but nothing came to him.

‘So…I give your question back to you: take away the serum and what are you?’ She turned her back on him. ‘According to what I’ve garnered, you’re a weedy little asthmatic with immunodeficiency disorder and short man syndrome. Of the two, the latter is worse.’

‘Short man syndrome?’ Steve demanded.

Lennie turned at the door and smirked at him. ‘Dude, when a little guy goes around getting into fights with bigger guys because they are “bullying” him, he has short man syndrome. See you in court.’

She walked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always had this idea that the X-Jet could go invisible. I would see that as the most efficient way for a team of mutants to slip around on a ship like that.


End file.
